PURCHASING TREES 



187 



in apples may be mentioned Gallia Beauty and Red Rome 

 (both strains of Rome Beauty) , Starking (Red Delicious) , Red 

 Gravenstein, Red Duchess, Black Stayman Winesap, and Red 

 Spy. The origin of some of these is so obscure that they may 

 be seedlings rather than sports. Among new apple varieties 

 obtained as the result of scientific breeding programs are the 

 Cortland, Early Mcintosh, and others originated at the New 

 York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva and many by 

 Macoun in Canada and by Beach in Iowa. The New Jersey 

 Station has bred a considerable number of promising peach 

 varieties, and the Geneva Station has developed the Sheridan 

 grape and many varieties of small fruits. The United States 

 Department of Agriculture has done work along similar lines. 



Certified Trees. Some nurseries are now advertising "cer- 

 tified" trees for sale at prices slightly in excess of the regular 

 charges for trees of the same age and grade. The term as used 

 here means that these trees have been examined in the nursery 

 row by ofiicial agents and have been certified as being true to 

 name. 



Some nurserymen and experienced tree growers have long 

 been able to identify many varieties from their appearance 

 as they grow in the nursery. The shape and manner of growth 

 of the tree, color of bark, and appearance of the leaves are 

 all factors. 



The Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station has 

 made an extended study of the leaves of apple trees. It has 

 established that leaves on wood of the current season^s growth ^ 

 especially those occurring on the middle portions of such wood, 

 are very important and dependable factors in identification. 

 Injured or malformed leaves or those growing on interior 

 shoots or on undernourished trees are not typical. 



The appearance of the petiole or leaf stalk and the angle 

 which it makes with the parent branch are helpful. The size 

 and shape of the leaf, the shape of the leaf tip, etc., bending 

 or folding of the leaf blade, and of the margin, and especially 

 the serrations along the leaf edges are determining factors- 



